Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-02-10


| property of the stockholders should be-
come exhausted The caution this pro-
vision typifes confesses not only the posi-
bility, but the probability of such charge
being saddled upon the State. We believe
the attempt to make the State a party to
the scheme is unwarranted by the Consti-
tuition, and is not within the power of the
Legislature. At best, it is loosely drawn
provision and falls short of ordinary tinan-
cial prescience. 1t is clear to any intelli-
| gence that no guarantee is, or can be given,
that the fund provided will be sufficient
for the demand liable to be made upon it
| Upon the failure of the mines operating
under the license to be thus given to cor
porations supplying them with water,
there would be imposed upon the taxpay-
ers of all parts of the State the onerous
burden of forever maintaining these
| works; either this or that the low.
lands of the valley, the richest and most
| prolific in the State, should be abandoned
to the inevitable descent of these further
accumulations of mining debris and the
navigable streams Of the State be given
over to further filling of their channels. 1t
ought to be sufficient that the menace to
these lands and streams is now great, and
a serious check to the prosperity of a vast
80 ha Sta4r nd
to the navigable waters of the chief port
Of the nation upon her Pacific shores.
Moreover, this foreshadewed abandonment
of their works by the hydraulic miners,
and which in the nature of things must
come about, will constitute an er-present
menace to the valley. From the hour of
their construction, indeed, they would put
all risk upon the people below the works.
and those above them would take none
whatever.
Section makes any corporation created
under the Act liable for all injuries result
ing from breakage of the dams and insult
ficiency to restrain call mining debris not
carried in suspension by the water" This
attempt to pacify those below the proposed
dams will not have the desired effect A
corporation bankrupt would furnish poor
material for the levy of an execution. Or,
if such works gave way, it is improbable
in the light of past experience-that the
waterworks companies erecting them
could be made to pay the damages, even if
solvent prior to the breakage. After cessa-
ton of corporation work the State GER
tainly would not be liable for damages due
to insuficiency of the works. There is no
provision requiring inspection of the dams,
no power given any one to compel their
constructors to maintain activity in secur-
ing them against disaster. And so, we re-
peat, as the people below must remain de-
pendent upon the judgment of the owners
of the water works-not the owners of
mines, necessarily-as to their sufficiency,
the dams would constitute an eyer-present
menace to low land and valley dwellers,
and to the navigable streams.
But another and equally as fatal defect
is disclosed by this section, wherein con-
sent by the State is given to hydralic
miners to flow over such works matter
carried in suspension, and relieves them
by industrious legislation from all damage
done by such matter. 1t is precisely this
fine matter that deposits when it reaches
slow valley currents, and has 50 largely
contributed to the filling up of the Sacra-
meDto river in front of this city, and
threatens the impairment of tidal waters
in the Bay of San Francisco to-day. No
stones, gravel or coarse debris have reached
us; the flow which the bill legalizes and
exempts from restraint IS that, mainly, of
which we complain to-day, and which has
caused such immeasurable damage to val=
ley lands and retarded the growth of all
the river section.
The seventh section REQUIRES engineer
ing approval of plans of DAMS and their
erection under engineering direction. 1t
is also provided that if there is State
Engineer he must do these duties without
other compensation than the salary paid
to him by the State-that is to say, sala-
ried servant OF the State paid by all the
people, is to serve private corporations.
The GOODNESS of this proposition, we sub
NIT, is only paralleled by the patent evil
dences of special legislation which it bears.
We do not pause here to point out in
detail the defects of the bill due to the
fact that not even the mining property so
largely concerned is made responsible for
any damage due to the failure of this new
scheme.
These are but few of the objections to
the bill based upon defects disclosed by its
text. They are not advanced in any spirit
of mere hostility. The bill is unquestion-
ably one that involves in great concern
some of the most vital interests of the State,
and Is not, therefore, to be either lightly
discussed or hastily acted upon by the
Legislature. There is no desire to
Cypress or hinder the people of min
ing sections in legitimate indus
tries, nor any other sentiment than
that of regret that the conditions are what
they are But the laws of the land as in
terpreted by the Courts give lowland
jewellers protection, which this bill puts in
jeopardy, and the commonest instincts of
self-preservation demand that they shall
not forfeit them by legislation, nor expose
themselves to new dangers.
THE Assembly Committee to-day passes
upon the items of the general appropria-
ton bill. 1t is to be sincerely hoped that
the reservation of $4,000 asked by the